The head of the military administration in the Luhansk region, Serhii Gaidai, said on Ukrainian television that “the Donetsk direction is the most difficult, because the Russians are trying to seize Bakhmut, and all settlements from Lisiyansk to Bakhmut are important for them. ” according to CNN.

Serhii Gaidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration Photo: David Goldman/AP/Profimedia

Lisiyansk is located in the neighboring Luhansk region and was captured by Russian forces in June.

Gaidai noted that in the village of Bilogorivka, the Ukrainian military destroyed “a significant number of personnel of the occupiers and their equipment.”

“Now they are trying to break through the defense line, as they plan to make an additional bridgehead to continue the offensive. There is constant shelling, this area is constantly bombed. There are six people left in the village, they are elderly people who do not want to leave. It is difficult to get people who do not want to leave,” the official said.

Against the background of difficult weather conditions, Gaidai said that “the liberation of Luhansk region is going very hard. However, there is one positive. Our troops are not far from the city of Kreminna, which has been occupied since the spring, north of Lysyansk.

At the same time, the head of the military administration in the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said that after the Russian missile attacks on parts of Donetsk on Monday, “emergency power cuts continue.” Energy companies provide the system with backup sources. In general, the situation is stable. Generators are started after emergency shutdowns.”

According to him, the situation around Bakhmut is “extremely tense. The enemy’s claims that Bakhmut has been taken and is on the outskirts of the city are untrue.”

“Most people were evacuated from Bakhmut. Bahmut now has about 12,000 residents, down from 81,000 before the invasion. The enemy is trying to destroy the civilian population,” he says

The Ukrainian military reported that the center of Bakhmut was hit – an administrative building, a dormitory and a residential building were damaged.

Kyrylenko reported that the Russians also bombed the town of Vugledar, as well as Kurakhove and Khostre – a kindergarten, four high-rise buildings and seven private houses were damaged.